Finale Percussion font

The Finale Percussion font includes icons to represent a wide variety of percussion instruments, mallets, techniques, and unique notations. These pictograms, developed in 1974 by a conference of more than eighty musicians representing seventeen countries, are favored by publishers like Southern, TRN, and others because they allow for immediate recognition across language barriers. Some pictograms, such as castanets, vibraslap, and cannon, are unique to the Finale Percussion font, and in some cases, alternate versions are provided.

If a keystroke is separated by a plus sign (+), the keys must be pressed in succession. If a keystroke combination is separated by a comma, type the first keystroke combination, release the keys, and press the character after the comma. All of these characters can also be selected by using Text > Font to choose the desired font and Text > Inserts > Symbol to open the Symbol Selection dialog box.

Characters marked with a dagger (†) "dovetail" when they are repeated; for example, repeating the character Constant circular motion segment (SHIFT + 9) results in a continuous Constant circular motion.

Finale Percussion Character Set

Keystroke Character Description Keystroke Character Description
SHIFT+p Timpani q Timpani, soft mallet
w Timpani, medium mallet r Timpani, wood mallet
e Timpani, hard mallet SHIFT+y Triangle
l Triangle beater z Knitting needle
OPTION+SHIFT+e Crotales OPTION+0 Finger cymbals
SHIFT+b Cowbell ` Flexatone
OPTION+SHIFT+o Brake drum SHIFT+a Tamtam
OPTION+o Gong OPTION+SHIFT+n Gong with button (nipple)
SHIFT+z Claves OPTION+SHIFT+; Vibraslap
OPTION+SHIFT+s Sandpaper blocks OPTION+l Ratchet
SHIFT+c Guiro b Guiro scraper
SHIFT+f Maracas OPTION+SHIFT+d Maracas
OPTION+SHIFT+y Castanets SHIFT+d Cabasa
SHIFT+s Wood block OPTION+SHIFT+j Log drum
SHIFT+g Glockenspiel SHIFT+j Xylophone
t Xylophone, soft mallet i Hard sticks (wood or plastic heads) or xylophone, wood mallet
y Xylophone, medium mallet u Xylophone, hard mallet
j Brass mallet SHIFT+k Marimba
SHIFT+h Vibraphone m Bow
o Yarn, soft beater p Yarn, medium beater
[ Yarn, hard beater SHIFT+l Pitched mallet instrument
OPTION+SHIFT+m Tubular bells OPTION+' Chimes
OPTION+r Bongo OPTION+q Timbales
OPTION+SHIFT+i Conga SHIFT+r Field drum (or military drum) with snares on
SHIFT+q Snare drum (snares off) SHIFT+w Snare drum
g Snare sticks h Jazz sticks (plastic tip snare sticks)
v Wire brushes n Spoon-shaped wooden mallet
OPTION+SHIFT+z Tom-tom SHIFT+e Tenor drum
SHIFT+u Bass drum SHIFT+i Bass drum (on side)
a Bass drum, soft mallet f Bass drum, double mallet
s Bass drum, medium mallet (or chimes mallet) d Bass drum, hard mallet
1 Swing down (handbells) 2 Swing up (handbells)
3 Damp (handbells) SHIFT+3 Damp, alternate (handbells)
4 Martellato (handbells) 5 Muted martellato (handbells)
6 Hand martellato (handbells) 7 Martellato lift (handbells)
8 Mallet, bell on table (handbells) 9 Mallet lift (handbells)
SHIFT+4 Swing (handbells) SHIFT+2 Pluck lift (handbells)
SHIFT+5 Table single handbell SHIFT+7 Table pair of handbells
0 Echo (handbells) SHIFT+1 Gyro (handbells), scrape around rim
SHIFT+= Mallet bell suspended (handbells), rim shot x Rim shot
SHIFT+t Crash cymbals SHIFT+v Hi-hat
OPTION+/ Hi-hat cymbals on stand OPTION+9 Vietnamese hat cymbal
OPTION+SHIFT+c Suspended cymbal SHIFT+n Sizzle cymbal
OPTION+SHIFT+[ Cymbal tongs SHIFT+- Drumstick (for cymbal strike location)
OPTION+SHIFT+a Temple blocks OPTION+; Sistrum
OPTION+SHIFT+f Goblet drum (djembe, doumbek) SHIFT+m Board clapper (whip or slapstick)
OPTION+a Wind chimes OPTION+SHIFT+l Wind machine
SHIFT+x Sleigh bells OPTION+SHIFT+u Police whistle
OPTION+f Slide whistle SHIFT+o Tambourine
OPTION+y Almglocken OPTION+\ Slit drum
OPTION+SHIFT+r ClosedCar hornGreat job! OPTION+s Bell
OPTION+c Anvil c Metal hammer
OPTION+] Hammer k Rawhide hammer
OPTION+SHIFT+h Cannon OPTION+g Siren
OPTION+t Gunshot OPTION+SHIFT+w Lion's roar
OPTION+[ Bell plate OPTION+SHIFT+q Thunder sheet
OPTION+SHIFT+' Bird whistle OPTION+SHIFT+/ Wind whistle (or mouth siren)
OPTION+SHIFT+] Duck call OPTION+SHIFT+, Klaxon horn
\ Fist ] Finger
; Hand SHIFT+; Fingernail
. Right hand (Agostini) SHIFT+. At normal position
, At center (Ghent) SHIFT+, At center
/ At rim (Ghent) SHIFT+/ At rim
SHIFT+9 Constant circular motion segment† SHIFT+0 Constant circular motion segment (large)†
OPTION+- Constant circular motion segment (flipped)† OPTION+SHIFT+- Constant circular motion segment (flipped, large)†
OPTION+8 Quasi-random squiggle† OPTION+7 Quasi-random squiggle, alternate†
OPTION+1 Narrow wavy line segment† OPTION+3 Wide wavy line segment†
OPTION+2 Sawtooth line segment† OPTION+4 Wide sawtooth line segment†
OPTION+6 Narrow wavy line segment† -  
=        

See also:

Fonts

Finale Character Sets